From the Guardian: a dodgy report of what sounds like an interesting study. There's a big variation at how much people's brains light up at the sight (and no doubt smell, touch or thought) of a pleasurable stimulus. People with 'high reward sensitivity' are inclined to experience a powerful drive to pursue anticipated reward.
Ah. High reward sensitivity. That's the battleground of my life.
But is 'reward sensitivity' (as they imply) a generic feature of the brain itself, which applies across all rewards? I think not, as I am pretty much uninterested in some rewards, like opiates for instance, and much more susceptible to others.
And doesn't this article fall into the oh so familiar trap of implying that if a feature of the mind is reflected in physical attributes f the brain, then this implies it is an innate feature? If the mind is grounded in the brain then any attribute - innate or learned - could show up on a brain scan.